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If there's one epithet the right never tires of, it's "elitism." Republicans are constantly accusing Democrats of it this campaign season, as when Kentucky Senate nominee Rand Paul attacked President Obama as "a liberal elitist … [who] believes that he knows what is best for people." With the Tea Party's rise, conservatives have even begun accusing each other of it, as Sharron Angle, the Nevada GOP nominee did when she charged that Robert Bennett, the outgoing senator from Utah, "has become one of the elitists that is no longer in touch." Other days, they simply lament that the entire country is falling prey to it, as California Senate nominee Carly Fiorina recently did in asserting that "the American Dream is in danger" because of the "elitists" in charge of the government.
When the rich former CEO of one of America's largest companies casts herself as a victim of elitism, we have surely strayed far from any literal definition of the term. So what do Republicans mean by this French word?
The right's favorite scare word is "elitism." What does it mean? - By Jacob Weisberg - Slate Magazine (http://www.slate.com/id/2269576/pagenum/all/#p2 - broken link)
[INDENTIf there's one epithet the right never tires of, it's "elitism." Republicans are constantly accusing Democrats of it this campaign season, as when Kentucky Senate nominee Rand Paul attacked President Obama as "a liberal elitist … [who] believes that he knows what is best for people." With the Tea Party's rise, conservatives have even begun accusing each other of it, as Sharron Angle, the Nevada GOP nominee did when she charged that Robert Bennett, the outgoing senator from Utah, "has become one of the elitists that is no longer in touch." Other days, they simply lament that the entire country is falling prey to it, as California Senate nominee Carly Fiorina recently did in asserting that "the American Dream is in danger" because of the "elitists" in charge of the government.
When the rich former CEO of one of America's largest companies casts herself as a victim of elitism, we have surely strayed far from any literal definition of the term. So what do Republicans mean by this French word?[/indent]The right's favorite scare word is "elitism." What does it mean? - By Jacob Weisberg - Slate Magazine (http://www.slate.com/id/2269576/pagenum/all/#p2 - broken link)
The entire phrase is "Elitist Pointy-Headed Intellectual" , in other words, Beck/Palin crowd thinks smart people are "elitist".
This also explains their fear of "science".
If there's one epithet the right never tires of, it's "elitism." Republicans are constantly accusing Democrats of it this campaign season, as when Kentucky Senate nominee Rand Paul attacked President Obama as "a liberal elitist … [who] believes that he knows what is best for people." With the Tea Party's rise, conservatives have even begun accusing each other of it, as Sharron Angle, the Nevada GOP nominee did when she charged that Robert Bennett, the outgoing senator from Utah, "has become one of the elitists that is no longer in touch." Other days, they simply lament that the entire country is falling prey to it, as California Senate nominee Carly Fiorina recently did in asserting that "the American Dream is in danger" because of the "elitists" in charge of the government.
When the rich former CEO of one of America's largest companies casts herself as a victim of elitism, we have surely strayed far from any literal definition of the term. So what do Republicans mean by this French word?
The right's favorite scare word is "elitism." What does it mean? - By Jacob Weisberg - Slate Magazine (http://www.slate.com/id/2269576/pagenum/all/#p2 - broken link)
It means that they don't have to pay attention to studies or anything that resembles facts. In this way they can operate on emotion. It is cut from the same cloth as ----those people in Washington. It is a devisive tool.
The entire phrase is "Elitist Pointy-Headed Intellectual" , in other words, Beck/Palin crowd thinks smart people are "elitist".
This also explains their fear of "science".
I don't pretend to know what Beck and Palin believe but my guess is they think people who possess more education than intelligence are elitists.
Basically means people that think they know better than everyone else because they're rich or hold a Ph.D. That's being elitist.
"Though they sound nearly identical, there's a significant distinction between the Palin and the McCain definitions. Palin's definition says elitists are those who think they're better than other people—a category in which by Election Day, on the evidence of her autobiography, included many of the people working for her own campaign. Palin is raw with the disrespect she feels and takes offense at being condescended to by people who, she thinks, think they are better than she is. Her anti-elitism takes the part of all Americans who feel similarly snubbed, and not necessarily in the context of politics. This version is a synonym for social snobbery, with the wrinkle that it's not based on family, ethnicity, or wealth, but rather on the status that in contemporary American society is largely conferred by academic institutions.
".... Palin's posture of victimization is a response to this sense of exclusion. The irony is that she assumes this posture in the service of policies whose effect is to deepen the inequalities of American life."
Hate to burst your bubble, but most of us are not defined by how Sarah Palin or John McCain behave.
And don't kid yourself, elitism exists on both sides of the aisle.
As usual, the "elitist" thing goes over your heads. Elitist is being referred to the self-proclaimed elitists in Dc, who think they are better and smarter and deserving of power over all of us. It's not that they are really elite, they just think they are, and sadly people like you believe they are too
As usual, the "elitist" thing goes over your heads. Elitist is being referred to the self-proclaimed elitists in Dc, who think they are better and smarter and deserving of power over all of us. It's not that they are really elite, they just think they are, and sadly people like you believe they are too
But to be fair to liberals, their favorite scare word is "ignorance", because it does bring on genuine fears:
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